Bomb-Threat Notes at Highland Park High School Leave Nothing Open to Interpretation
University Park Police Capt. Leon Holman tells me the two “suspicious notes” found yesterday and Wednesday at Highland Park High School — both of them bomb threats — were printed in block letters and seem to have been written by the same person. Their wording is about as blunt as it gets: “Bomb hidden in building call 911,” and “I made a homemade bomb and I have a pistol.”
A search last night with bomb-sniffing dogs resulted in a couple of benign false alerts — cleaning products and a spilled chemistry beaker — but the process was so involved that the school had to delay a ceremonial banquet for its volleyball players, evacuate the building again, and finally cancel the banquet altogether, said HPISD spokeswoman Helen Williams.
“It’s a shame that a threat would cancel a celebration for our students,” Williams said.
University Park police have begun interviewing students, Holman said, “but nothing has panned out yet.” Terroristic threats as such are a Class D B misdemeanor.
“If this is someone who’s suffering in some way,” Williams said, “then we want to help them. But acting in this way is not constructive; it’s destructive, and it puts people on edge unnecessarily.”
I believe there needs to be a correction made to this article. A bomb threat is not a “terroristic threat” and there is no such thing as a “Class D misdemeanor” in Texas.
A bomb threat constitutes an offense known as “False Alarm or Report” under Sec. 42.06 of the Texas Penal Code. If the bomb threat is made against a public school, it is a State Jail Felony punishable by 180 days to 2 years in a state jail facility and a fine of up to $10,000.00.
Jonathan,
Per Capt. Holman, it’s a terroristic threat under Sec. 22.07 of the Texas Penal Code. I just misheard or mistyped the “Class D” part, however — you’re right.
This one’s a Class B misdemeanor, though I’m told they may be able to bump it up to a single felony if the threats (now three of them) are all attributed to one person. Guess we’ll see.
It looks like it can be charged either as a terroristic threat under 22.07, or a false alarm under 42.06, as based on the allegations the offense would fit both those statutes.